Yanik Giroux - Stage & Studio

Why do we love the artists we love?

Is it for their music? the voice? the look? the costumes? the personality? the glamour they bring to our lives? No matter what it is, an artist has to strike the right chord with us in order for us to love them (and for some, idolize them!).

Unfortunately these days, the scandals and looks seem to be selling more than vocal skills. Who needs vocal skills when you can fix it all in the studio? Ok, I am pushing it a bit and being sarcastic, but unfortunately, that is what is happening too often in the music business. Let's just take a look at what is "hot" these days: Lady Gaga and her meat dresses, Rihanna and her violence stories with her boy, Niki Minaj and her costumes, Adam Lambert kissing boys and flaunting wayyy too much make-up rather than building a career on his phenomenal voice! These are all facts about this business where everybody wants a piece of the cake. Let's not generalize, we do have some fantastic singers, but unfortunately, the media are tempting a lot of them to head in the wrong directions to sell their music and grab the attention.

One artist who claimed to be different was Adele. She has built her career around her songs and not her glamourous life, a raw and honest voice, pooring her heart and soul in her lyrics and interpretation of her great stories. She has built her career on being different, looking different. She has always been proud to be who she is, not shy about being a "bigger" girl and never built her success about her look or creating scandals.

Well, I have to be honest, it was a disappointment for me to see her flipping the bird when she got cut off during her acceptance speech at the Brit Awards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us78Mw3Fr9U

I admit that cutting her so short was a bit rude and not very respectful, but at the same time, giving the finger to the audience for such thing was not the right answer and for me, left a bad taste in my mouth.This looked just like another sellfish spoiled brat move with no class! She of course did apologize after, she had to, but still... That move was very unnecessary and uncalled for. 

Then this month, it was a surprise to see her on the front page of the Vogue Magazine in a majorly photoshopped picture, showing... well... a different shape and more than she usually does!

http://blisstree.com/look/adele-vogue-cover-photoshop-826/

Sigh... major sigh and questioning came through my mind at the sight of that picture. That picture is simply not the Adele we know! How can an artist who's been so proud of her "non commercial" shape could agree to a front page picture where her face and waist have obviously been retouched (she is definitely not that thin!), in a pose that is definitely NOT what Adele is known for. Maybe it is the magazine that pushed for it, but Adele had to agree to it at some point. I am not a prude, I could care less for the cleavage (heck, I am french!), it just doesn't fit the image she has been sending all along and fighting for. That's all.

What is this all about? Why the spoiled brat move at the Brit Awards? Why giving a thumbs up to something that portrays her in a totally different way, something she has said she is not, nor apparently wants to be? Is this the "new" post-surgery Adele?

Well, I have to say, I definitely preferred the old Adele with her honesty and differences.

Being an artist means a constant search within ourselves or at least a constant re-evaluation of who we are and what we do and this is where Julia comes to the rescue!

Julia Cameron is the author's name and I just love her! A few years ago, I discovered her master-piece "The Artist's Way", a 12-week very intense program into renewing your creativity and finding inspirations in all aspects of your life through a specific program of readings, writings and tasks to complete every week. The book was recommend by a teacher in College and I have actually completed this very powerful and life changing 12-week program a few times over the past 12 years. I have also gotten many of her books which are all very inspiring.

But it had been a while and I guess synchronicty played its game once again! I was at Chapters tonight, when I decided to take a look at the self-help section and came across Cameron's new book: "The Prosperous Heart-Creating a life of "enough"" While her first book "The Artist's Way" dealt with finding a path to higher creativity,  "The Prosperous Heart" deals with something many of us may have problems with...money! I glanced over a few pages and the book spoke to me right away. Once again Julia, you did it!

So, I got all excited, bought the book and of course, equipped myself with a brand new thick journal ready for my "Morning Pages" starting tomorrow morning... Not only does every week have a set of readings around a specific theme or issue to think about, the process involves heavy writing every morning. Three pages to write first thing in the morning, no exception! It allows you to put all your thoughts on paper, good or bad, and start the day fresh. Inspired or not, the writing must go, no matter what comes out... eventually something worth it will appear on the page! Then my week will also be filled with the recommended "Artist's Dates" and other task at hands.

While this process is challenging, it is most rewarding. Some weeks are good, some not so good; her writing has this magic touch where she can push our buttons, send us to visit places we sometimes don't wanna go to, or to think about things we sometimes prefer not to think about. But for having done "The Artist's Way" a few times now, I strongly recommend the book to anybody wanting to take some time for themselves and re-evaluating what is this all about! Artist or not, anybody deserves that time. There are a lot of mumbo-jumbo self-help books out there, but this one is THE one that should be considered for anybody wanting to explore their creativity and to explore their relationship with money as I am just about to do.

So... I better go to bed, because I now have to wake up 30-minutes early... for the next 12 weeks! yikes...

Ahhhh Mother Nature has been playing tricks on us again!

Everytime that happens, of course being from back east, part of me giggles a little. Of course, I don't care much for the snow either, after all, I thought I left that all behind, but I can't help and roll my eyes a little at the chaos that happens in Good Ole' Victoria when the snow comes.

Now, now, and before you say anything or get mad at me... I know and understand...The problem is we don't have the equipment to remove that snow. The prolem is our cars don't have the right tires. The problem is we don't have boots, tuques or gloves. The problem is we don't have shovels. The problem is people don't know how to drive in these conditions. The problem is... Now are these things Problems or Inconveniences?

A few years back, I had the chance to be music director for a show called "All I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten". This was a great show and there was a scene where a grandpa explains to his granddaughter the difference between problems and inconveniences.

A problem is when you are stuck, there is no easy solution, or maybe no solution at all in sight. An inconvenience is when life throws you a curved ball and ya gotta take the detour to make something happen. A problem comes when you can't make do without. An inconvenience is when you could make do without. Take the simple example of eggs: not having eggs to make an omelette is a problem; not having eggs for breakfast is an inconvenience. Sometimes it is your own decision to make something a problem or an inconvenience, depends how you see it.

So, this morning, I decided that this snow was inconvenient, but wouldn't stop me for getting to work or to the dentis to take a look at that tooth I broke the other day; another inconvience as I can get treatment for it, but the bill at the end may become a problem! haha!

Happy Singin' in the Snow!

Yay! I am so happy to be back at work!

I have to admit, without family around, the Holidays can be a bit of a drag. And specially in Victoria where we had such a wet Christmas! The weather was so beautiful for the whole month of December and then on Christmas Day... bam! Rain! So after a week inside, cleaning up, I was so happy to get back to work yesterday!

I love teaching. I really do. My students are my family and it is such a pleasure to see them all every week. Yes, yes, I have to do a bit of "bum kicking" sometimes, but that is my job and how I love it! It's always interesting going back to work after a break, be it short or longer. While the voice can be a bit rusty, I can also hear some improvement. Sometimes the body needs time to digest all that information I throw at my students and the element of time is an important one and needed one in voice training. No matter how hard you work, it just needs time sometimes.

No matter what, it's the little miracles that happen everyday in the studio that makes it worth it: a student hitting higher notes, or remembering all the words to a song, or having a new piano piece under control, or discovering a new artist or show and loving it. These are all baby steps and part of the training... and part of the growing through music lessons. Because what happens in the studio is more than teaching music. It is teaching a discipline to work hard, to push ourselves to learn new things, to gain confidence, to open up to someone else with something very personal, our voice.

And it is for all those reasons, all those little miracles that I always look forward to going back to the studio. I guess in the same way that a yogi always goes back to the mat!

Namaste

'Tis the season to be jolly, falalalaaaaaaa!....

Christmas carolling! I decided to get back to carolling this year and so, I had the pleasure to entertain the crowds at the Bay Centre last week. I was singing everyday around lunch time and this turned out to be an interesting eye opener and "observation lab" about singing and the Christmas traditions.

We sang for 6 days straight, from 12:30pm to 2pm, wandering around the mall, singing carols well-known to most people, and some not as well-known. I have been doing this for years, (holiday carolling is indeed part of the job when you are a singer!), but this year, I had a special interest in people-watching, about people watching us that is!

I started noticing differences in people paying attention to us or listening to us, be it about age, nationality or gender.

First of all, the age range. People over the age of 40 were definitely our biggest audience. People of that age, be it men or women would stop, take a moment in the middle of their shopping spree to listen to us and let the music in. Some would listen for 2-3 songs and go on with their shopping, all smile! Many of them talked to us, thanked us for bringing beautiful music and life in the middle of that busy holiday season. It was clear to me that they were able to appreciate our singing and were able to communicate that feeling, which was rewarding. That is what Christmas should be about, isn't it?

Then we have the 12 to 25 age group, mostly teenagers hanging out with friends at the mall or younger couples trying to figure out the last few gifts or hunting for the best outfit for Christmas parties. Nobody from that age group would stop to listen to us, unless they were with older parents or family members (sort'a forced to!). Obviously, carolling is not "cool" and is not something they should associate with or pay attention to for same reason. You would think that ignoring us would be enough, but no, making fun of us seemed needed in many cases. Some would walk by and then turn to us clearly laughing at us. Some would make fun of us by creating their own little dancing or singing act right in front of us or trying to outsing us by making..hummm some strange noises...  Unfortunately, no matter what we sang, we were not cool and not even the respect of the carolling tradition could save us. Maybe we need Bieber's "Under the Mistletow" in our repertoire next year...

Finally, for the 25 to 40 age group, I noticed that it went one way or the other. For most of them, they were simply too busy shopping to stop and listen. They'd be polite, but we were not their thing, unless they had kids with them, then it was worth taking a break to listen to us singing "Rudolph" or "Frosty". Then, I noticed quite a few single men (yes men, not women!) who would stop and listen to a few songs. For many of them, some nostalgia could be read in their face; singles from that age range seemed to be the most touched for whatever reason. Could it be part of the mid-life crisis of staying cool and young with the new things, or giving up to what's becoming most important as we age, including Christmas traditions?

This whole thing really made me think about Christmas traditions, the ones that are getting passed from generations to generations and the ones that are getting lost...

Also made me think about the Art of singing, where a "Britney wannabe" singing in a mall may not be as weird as well-trained singers demonstrating their skills and years of training in a more polished manner (because we sounded pretty awsome together!!!).

Is beautiful singing getting lost to untrained performers putting on a wicked cool show instead? Well, no matter what, I was happy to be there singing and sharing music, rather than buying into the whole Christmas shopping duty frenzy...